Psalm 55:4-8
My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.  Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.  And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.  Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.  I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.

Sometimes when trouble comes, our instinct is to run away.  Sometimes it seems like that would solve our problem and make everything much easier for us.  We think that if we could just find some escape route, that would make everything okay.  But that is not always a good solution to our problems.  It may be easier to try to ignore them and wish them away, but that does nothing to actually solve them.  It may seem like what is bothering us couldn’t possibly follow us if we could only get away, but trouble can often find us wherever we end up.

The solution, then, is not always to run away, but to deal with it in the proper way.  The solution isn’t to avoid everything difficult that comes our way, but to face it in a right way, because then we can learn helpful lessons and gain strength.  These kinds of experiences can equip us to face more difficult things later on.  They teach us how to handle similar things in the future.  They help us gain lasting victories instead of just searching out a temporary reprieve.

So what is the solution in these deeply troubling times that we face?  Where do we go when we are so overwhelmed by fear and turmoil, when the storms of life are raging all around us?  There is only one sure place to go to find our shelter and our refuge, and that is to seek the Lord in these moments.  We have to trust Him even when everything seems so dark and hopeless.  We have to know He is in control when everything seems ready to overtake us completely.  We have to rely on Him and cry out for Him and go to Him for our rest.

Too often we are not willing to do that.  Too often our only goal is to avoid pain and suffering and trial.  But those things are a part of life and are often part of God’s will for us in order to build up our faith and build us into the people He would have us to be.  Instead of wishing to escape every hardship, let’s be willing to find our refuge in God, to seek to learn the lessons He would teach us, and to witness His power at work in our lives.  What we learn in this experience will equip us to better handle the next one and the one after that so we won’t be tempted to run anywhere else but into the arms of our Lord.